Conventional desktop software applications enable users, such as film or video editors, to edit digital video content. One form of editing is known as non-linear editing. In particular, non-linear editing is a non-destructive editing method that enables access to frames of the video clip.
In such an instance, initially, video and audio data from a media source file can be digitized and recorded directly to a storage device that is local to the computer system. The media source file can then be edited on the computer using any of a wide range of video editing software and edit commands. Examples of video edit commands include splicing video segments together, applying effects to video, adding subtitles, etc.
According to one conventional application, video editor software resides at a remote client location with respect to a server. The server stores raw video that is being edited by the client. When the video editor at the remote location receives input from a user to apply an editing command to a particular segment of video, the video editor generates a request to the server to retrieve the segment for application of the video command.
Application of the edit command to the retrieved segment enables a user at the client to verify whether an applied edit under test produces the desired effect. If application of the command does not produce the desired effect, then the user can query the server again to apply the command in a different way such as at a different point in the segment. In this way, based on trial and error, a user can produce a desired resulting video experience.
The conventional video editor software at the remote location can receive the segment on a compressed format. Upon receipt of the video segment, the editor converts the compressed video received from the server into a format acceptable for rendering the video (with or without edits applied) on a display screen.